Swagger Book Review The novel Swagger by Carl Deuker is told through the mind of the main character Jonas Dolan as he attempts to adjust to moving to Seattle, California. Deuker is known for a book called Gym Candy, as well as many other basketball novels. He has written a plethora of novels in first person. He writes his novels in a first-person view in order to make the reader feel what the character feels. This really helps emphasize the theme of this book, which is decision-making and how it can not only hurt one person’s life, but how that person’s decisions can affect the people around them. The title “Swagger” comes from a quote from Jonas Dolan’s coach, which he stated “get a little swagger in your game, and other teams will back off.
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Jonas is a high school basketball player pursuing a Division II scholarship. He gets an offer from a college in New Hampshire, which the coach tells him he is in competition with another student from another school for the scholarship. He must not only perform well on the court, but perform well in the classroom where Jonas has not put much effort into throughout his high school career. It is next mentioned that his dad is struggling to keep a job, which ends up in Jonas moving to Seattle. When he gets to Seattle, he faces all sorts of adversity and challenges that he must face. He first off must find a way to convince a stubborn coach he is worthy of a starting spot. As the year goes on, his assistant coach takes over the team after a stunt he pulls on the head coach. Throughout a series of events, the coach takes advantage of a player and sets Jonas up in the process. Jonas has to make a decision to either help his friend and risk his basketball career, or go along with what is going on and risk his friend being damaged in the …show more content…
It is a book that many young adults can relate to, showing how important good decision making can be. It is a very well-written book, and the plot is very well planned out. The first-person view of this book without question takes the book to a whole nother level, adding an emotional effect to the book by showing what Jonas is feeling about each situation. It is also a very realistic book. It is obvious that the author likes realistic books when he adds, “in a TV show, McDowell would have been arrested Hartwell, there’d have been a trial, and then a jury would have sent him to prison for fifty years. But life isn’t a TV show” (Deuker 291). He makes the book more enjoyable because of the realism and how it pulls the reader it to believe that the plot is actually happening. The only issue with this novel is that it may be a little difficult for a younger audience to understand. They may not be able to relate or understand some of the pressures in the book as well as the overall plot of the story. With this being said, the rest of the book is very
Jonas is a high school basketball player pursuing a Division II scholarship. He gets an offer from a college in New Hampshire, which the coach tells him he is in competition with another student from another school for the scholarship. He must not only perform well on the court, but perform well in the classroom where Jonas has not put much effort into throughout his high school career. It is next mentioned that his dad is struggling to keep a job, which ends up in Jonas moving to Seattle. When he gets to Seattle, he faces all sorts of adversity and challenges that he must face. He first off must find a way to convince a stubborn coach he is worthy of a starting spot. As the year goes on, his assistant coach takes over the team after a stunt he pulls on the head coach. Throughout a series of events, the coach takes advantage of a player and sets Jonas up in the process. Jonas has to make a decision to either help his friend and risk his basketball career, or go along with what is going on and risk his friend being damaged in the …show more content…
It is a book that many young adults can relate to, showing how important good decision making can be. It is a very well-written book, and the plot is very well planned out. The first-person view of this book without question takes the book to a whole nother level, adding an emotional effect to the book by showing what Jonas is feeling about each situation. It is also a very realistic book. It is obvious that the author likes realistic books when he adds, “in a TV show, McDowell would have been arrested Hartwell, there’d have been a trial, and then a jury would have sent him to prison for fifty years. But life isn’t a TV show” (Deuker 291). He makes the book more enjoyable because of the realism and how it pulls the reader it to believe that the plot is actually happening. The only issue with this novel is that it may be a little difficult for a younger audience to understand. They may not be able to relate or understand some of the pressures in the book as well as the overall plot of the story. With this being said, the rest of the book is very